cover story vs song and dance

cover story

noun
  • A fictitious account that is intended to hide one's real motive. 

  • A story included in a publication that is highlighted on the front cover. 

song and dance

noun
  • An excessively elaborate story or excuse used to justify something. 

  • Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see song, and, dance. 

  • An excessively complex set of instructions. 

  • A display of unnecessary excitement or activity. 

How often have the words cover story and song and dance occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )